Environmental Engineering
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Environmental Engineering occupation series (code 0819), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
With 2,429 employees (0.1% of the federal civilian workforce), Environmental Engineering ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Engineering and Architecture Group family, and headcount edged down from the prior period. Its average salary of $139,024 pays above the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -0.9%
- Pay change
- +0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 17 yrs
- Rank in family
- #11 of 29
FedScope read on Environmental Engineering (dense series)
On pay, the move between reporting periods was a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. On length of service, this series shows a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement. Headcount moved down versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.
Environmental Engineering sits inside the Engineering and Architecture Group family (code 08), which contains 29 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Environmental Engineering postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Engineering and Architecture Group family. Across the Engineering and Architecture Group family, 120,278 employees work in 29 occupations; Environmental Engineering is 2.0% of that headcount. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (44th percentile) of pay among Engineering and Architecture Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Environmental Engineering pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$139,024
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+18.5%
Where Environmental Engineering ranks on rich federal pay
Environmental Engineering earns more on average than 82% of federal occupation series (443 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Environmental Engineering sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Environmental Engineering.
Related Occupations in Engineering and Architecture Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Engineering | 27,619 | $158,941 | 16.9 yrs |
| Engineering Technical | 14,443 | $93,062 | 15.2 yrs |
| Mechanical Engineering | 12,920 | $136,601 | 11.9 yrs |
| Electronics Engineering | 12,889 | $155,270 | 16.8 yrs |
| Civil Engineering | 10,260 | $124,230 | 14.7 yrs |
| Aerospace Engineering | 8,359 | $155,848 | 14.8 yrs |
| Electronics Technical | 7,298 | $103,713 | 15.6 yrs |
| Electrical Engineering | 5,231 | $142,419 | 13.5 yrs |
| Computer Engineering | 3,753 | $160,672 | 14.2 yrs |
| Nuclear Engineering | 2,813 | n/a | 13.5 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Environmental Engineering outside the Engineering and Architecture Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (2,429 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($139,024 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Environmental Engineering pay in context with the pay-rank chart above, then compare it with another occupation.
- Turn an average salary into a grade: the GS pay grade tables show how grades and steps map to pay.
- Browse the Engineering and Architecture Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Environmental Engineering postings on USAJOBS.
OPM FedScope and Federal Workforce Data figures are federal civilian headcounts, average salaries, and length-of-service statistics - not job-quality scores, hiring advice, or a live vacancy listing. A larger or higher-paid agency is not a better employer.